First Dates
by Naja Melanoleuca
Summary: Derek and John experience their first real dates. Mostly Sarah/Derek UST but not terribly overt
1. Chapter 1

**First Dates**

AN: I own nothing and was challenged to write a ship story for Derek and Sarah. Enjoy.

John ran in, clutching a paper and shouting joyously. "She agreed to go out with me. She said yes!" Cameron followed more sedately.

"Who said yes and to what?" Sarah asked, from her spot at the table paying bills. Even resistance fighters needed to pay the gas bill.

"Cheri, she said she would go out with me this Friday." John waved her phone number in his mother's face. Luckily he missed the look of utter confusion that passed between Sarah and Derek. Neither of them had any clue who Cheri was.

Derek kindly took the bullet to make Sarah look more involved. "Who is Cheri and why should I give a shit that she said yes to you?" He was cutting up chicken for a stir fry. Somehow, even after all he had been through, he was still a better cook than Sarah. Where her rather dodgy culinary abilities didn't faze him, John had no problems begging his uncle to take over supper duties. Sarah hadn't had much a problem doing either.

"She is only the girl I have been trying to get a date with for months, months!"

"Why, does she put out?" Derek asked.

"I don't know, I hope so but I don't know." Sarah gave them both sour look.

"Not that you should be thinking about that at your age," his uncle added rather ineffectually.

"I don't know John, where are you going? Is it to a school function?" Sarah rained on her son's parade.

"No, I haven't decided where we are going. Maybe to a movie or something like that."

"I don't think so, I'm sorry sweetheart. It isn't safe."

"What?" He snapped in disbelief. "What happened to our mission verses our life? This is life, mom, a first date, my first real date ever."

"You would be unprotected and that isn't acceptable."

"I already thought of that. Morris can take Cameron and we can go on a double date."

"I'm still not convinced."

"Derek, tell her."

"I'm pretty sure this is one of those things I should stay out of."

"Mom, you are being unreasonable. There has to be some way to work around this, a compromise." John tried diplomacy.

"What if I went with you to chaperone and protect you?" She suggested and John looked even more unhappy with this than her flat out refusal.

"And that is why, when I left he was a 42 year old virgin that often referred to blue eyed brunettes as, 'smother'." Derek snarked quietly.

"Derek, cracking jokes is not helping." She scolded again.

"Who said I was joking?"

"Please tell me you were joking," John almost begged.

"John, I know you want to go but I just don't feel safe about it unless Derek or I go with you too."

"Hey, how did I get dragged into this?" They both ignored him.

"What about both of you? Then you can keep each other company rather than hovering around us."

"That might work."

"Again, I never said I would go anywhere," Derek was still completely ignored.

"Fine, you two can come with Morris, Cameron, Cheri, and I but you cannot sit at the same table or ride in the same car."

"Not the same table but the same car."

"Agreed." They shook hands on it.

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" John and Sarah finally turned to his uncle.

"No," they told him in unison.

"It has to be someplace that is defensible, not a movie theatre."

"Ok, what about a restaurant?"

"Depends which one. Derek and I will do recon this week and come up with some suggestions."

"Excuse me," Derek said politely, waiting to be acknowledged. Sarah finally turned back to him. "How are you going to explain where I came from? No one has ever seen me before and won't it seem odd if I just show up chaperoning him on a date?"

"Good point, who can you be?" Sarah started to think.

"Your brother?" John tried.

"No, we don't look enough alike to be blood related."

"True, maybe a cousin or a friend from work?"

"Why would he be here though?"

"How about my father?" Cameron chimed in for the first time. "I am posing as John's step sister; it stands to reason that he would have a step father."

"Perfect." John smiled.

"Makes sense," Sarah agreed.

"Hate it," Derek disagreed. "There is no way I am pretending to have spawned that thing." He glared at the Terminator with a great deal of venom. "Besides, where have I been for the last few months? If I'm supposed to be married to your mother, you would think I would have been around here somewhere."

"Iraq," John supplied.

"Perfect." Sarah agreed, sounding eerily like her son.

"Why was I in Iraq?"

"Because you're in the military, of course," John continued. "You were in the Middle East and only got home a few weeks ago."

"Why am I in the military?"

"You scream military, Derek." Sarah clarified. "You are a walking, talking, special ops brochure come to life. There is no way you could pass for an insurance salesmen or mild mannered teacher. And don't even get me started on how ridiculous it would look for you to be something like a programmer, when you always look like you are about to start clubbing laptops like baby seals. False identities always work best if they are something that you know, and you really only know how to hide, kill things, and blow shit up. Face it; I'm married to a soldier."

"I would never club a baby seal." He seemed deeply insulted that she thought he would hurt an animal. "And you could just let me hide at home and mentally scar your son all by yourself."

"What branch?" John continued looking at his uncle critically. Sarah joined him across the island from Derek, neither of them even registering that he spoke. .

"Not a fly boy, he's not nice enough or clean cut enough." She tilted her head and Cameron mimicked her from behind, causing Derek to again snarl at her. "Too smart for the Army so Navy or Marine?"

"Marine, Twenty Palms and Pendleton bases aren't that far from here." John decided.

"Navy SEAL," Cameron observed.

"Why? I agree Special Forces fits the best by why a SEAL, they are pretty high profile." Sarah asked.

"The Coronado, NAB is less than 200 away and Derek knows it well, since his father was stationed there while he was growing up and he led the detail to drive Skynet out."

"Navy SEAL is excellent and believable then, not to mention he would be under directive not to talk about anything. That could easily explain why he can't actually answer any questions about the Iraq." Sarah agreed.

"So I can go?" John looked excited.

"Yes, you can go." John hugged his mother and kissed her enthusiastically on the cheek. Derek fumed as he finished supper but nothing would dull John's mood.

During supper John interrupted Derek's imagining that Cameron's face was on his broccoli as he speared it savagely with his fork and asked, "so are you going to help me get my game on before my date?" Derek raised his eye brows at his nephew. "Maybe I should try all tall, dark, and dangerous like you." He put his plate on the counter, six inches away from the sink with the rest of the dishes, and tried Derek's lean. It didn't work too well because the counter hit him in the side instead of his hip and just made him look like he had a figure.

"I think you have to old enough to shave for that to work." Derek pointed out.

"I can too shave, look." John walked over and pointed at his chin, proudly.

Derek examined it closely then stood up, to feel Johns chin. Sarah smiled at the sweetness of the two of them together. She often tried not to think about what John had missed out on, not having a father. A split second later he smacked John in the forehead with the heel of his hand and deadpanned, "clearly. Put your damn dish in the sink." Ok so maybe he treated him more like a younger brother than his child mostly because he never actually reared any children of his own, just a brother. Though, it always amazed Sarah what a neat freak Derek could be. She would have thought that spending 16 years living in filthy sewers and underground tunnels would have made him less concerned with things like dirty towels on the floor and dishes on the counter.

John listened though and pushed his plate into the sink. "But seriously, you have to explain to me how to charm women."

"Why exactly do you think I would know how to charm a woman?"

"Because, you are, well, you. I figured girls would love you." Sarah found it adorable that John had a little man-crush on his uncle. Though, most women now a days would probably just find him a little slightly crazy and a bit creepy. "Don't tell me that you don't have any girls in the future?" Sarah's ears perked up at this conversation. She knew she should be discouraging her son from trying to score with some girl but she was curious about what dating was like in the future. Kyle may have been a virgin, but something told her that Derek was not a pious priest saving himself for marriage.

"Lt. Reese, has six children and a possible seventh one." Cameron supplied and she nearly choked. She didn't think he hadn't thought he was that much of a man-whore.

"You dog," John smiled at his uncle.

"It fails to point out that I never actually dated any of the mothers. My most successful pick up line in the post apocalyptic world is, 'I haven't been sterilized by exposure to nuclear radiation, you want to have sex?'" Sarah bit her cheek to stop from laughing.

"But you managed to charm at least seven women?" John refused to be deterred.

"There was no charming." Sarah was pretty sure he was telling the truth there. 'Charming' and 'Derek' were two words that did not belong in the same sentence. He was usually about as personable as a scorpion.

"Then how?" John crossed his arms and tried to pin his uncle with a stare.

"Because I'm not sterile. Two were good friends of mine that happened to generally not like the company of men but wanted children. And the other's were all married to people I knew that couldn't have kids so I helped them out. It was nothing. I was more like a sperm donor than a lover."

"You mean in the future people ask you for sex just because you can produce children?" Derek shook his head, 'yes.' "That is so awesome!" John exclaimed. "But seriously, you have to have some pointers for me. After all you would have been about my age before Judgement Day, so you must have had some dates."

"I had turned 15 less than two weeks before and I was a geek." Sarah covered her mouth with her napkin to hide a smile.

"I thought you played baseball and ran track?"

"Yes, two of the lamest of all sports after gymnastics and competitive bowling," Derek droned sarcastically. "Please, I was also in the math club and the science club. I only appeared cool because I was around a lot of Asians that wore pocket protectors and didn't speak English. I spent ¾ of my time taking care of my little brother. Before the bombs, my sexual experience was pretty much stealing my mom's Victoria's Secret catalogue or fantasizing that Niko Takamoru would one day decide to date a lanky giajin." Sarah snorted audibly trying to hide her laugh. "Give up, kid, you're going to have to come up with your own style. Mine would never work for you. You're too short." He ruffled his nephew's hair and cleared the table.

"So you really do want me to end up being a 42 year old virgin?" John groused as he collected his books to do his homework.

"More snatch for me." Derek smiled as John left and Sarah finally gave up and dissolved into laughter.

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	2. Pretend Wedding

AN: I own nothing and was challenged to write a ship story for Derek and Sarah. Enjoy.

Also, I know it is very dialog heavy.

**First Dates**

Two days later, John came home to find Derek and his mother arm wrestling. He had ceased wondering why everything had to be a fight for dominance with those two. It made no sense how they could work like a well oiled, Swiss watch on missions but little things like opening up pickle jars and filling in crossword puzzles turned into week long contests. Just as it looked like Sarah was about to lose, she lifted her foot up and pressed her toes over his crotch. The farther down her arm went, the more pressure she applied until he finally gave up.

"Hah, I win. In your face mother fu," she trailed off on her taunting, "hello, John, how was your day?" Her attempt at trying to cover up her near vulgar comment was poor at best.

"Fine, I brought you and Derek presents." He produced a small plastic sac he picked up at a pawn shop. It had two gold bands that Cameron assured him were the right size. They were nondescript enough to be completely forgettable.

"Oh," she took hers and looked it over, an almost sad look crossing her face for a moment. He was surprised when Derek wore almost an identical expression to Sarah's when he took his. She held off putting it on her finger and he hoped they weren't backing out.

Derek seemed to recover first, "well, Sarah, do you want to be my pretend wife? And you didn't win because you cheated."

"Yes, I'll pretend marry you. And it isn't my fault if you still can't arm wrestle with a little distraction." They jokingly slipped the rings on each other's fingers.

"With the power vested in my by Mr. Moneybags and the Mayor of Candyland, I now pronounce you fake husband and fake wife, you may pretend kiss the bride." John blessed them.

"A little distraction, you were stomping on my nuts like a cigarette butt."

"You still lost, admit it." Sarah got up and moved to fix John a snack but Derek's chuckle turned her around. He didn't laugh often. "What is so funny?"

"I was just thinking of something I told John and Kyle in the future." John sat down across from his uncle, in the seat his mother just vacated. He loved it, when Derek told him about what Kyle was like. "They were always bitching at me to get married. You claimed it was my duty to start a family and Kyle just kept saying he wanted to see me happy. I used to tell both of you that I would marry the woman that could beat me at arm wresting." He stretched; his shirt pulled back exposing tattoos that covered angry scars. "I guess since I have to pretend Sara beat me that to keep my word I have to pretend marry her."

Sarah flung a cut up apple along with some peanut butter at John. "I beat you fair and square, Reese."

"No you didn't, Connor."

"So have you guys found any good places for our date?" John cut in or they would be doing that all night. It was never pretty, when they started lobbing last names at each other.

"Yes, there is a miniature golf course with an arcade and batting cages roughly six miles from here. There are ample exists, video surveillance, and no metal detectors."

"That sounds fun." He rolled his eyes, defying anyone other than the President's children to have this level of security on their dates.

"There is an old fashion malt shot down the road, with good visibility and a stucco wall along the Southwest corner. You can eat there then go and play." Sarah concluded, already spinning her ring around.

"I've been thinking about your back story," John started after he finished his apple. She had left a piece with the star on it on the center of the plate, in just the manner he used to like as a child. Frankly he was shocked that she still didn't cut the crusts off his sandwiches. She swore that she trusted him and that he needed to stand on his own two feet but still treated him like a five year old. "We need to decide how long you guys have been married. You have to have been together long enough for Cameron and I to be comfortable together but not so long that we grew up from infancy together."

"How about 8 years." Sarah decided. They had jumped over 8 years to meet Derek, so why not that long. "That would make John sevenish and Cameron eight. That is plenty long enough for there to be affection but not so long that you two would act alike."

"I'm sixteen, mom, but I like it. Though, I think you have been together for 8 years but only married for four. You are far too unconventional to give into marriage that quickly. Besides, he was worried about the increasing amount of time he had to spend overseas and wanted to get married to make sure that Cameron stayed with you, if anything happened to him."

"I like it."

"Has anyone even stopped to consider that that It is posing as a 16 year old and I'm 31? I would have had to have been pretty young, when she was born."

"You were." John continued, "you were 15 and that's why you are so strict with her, to stop her from making the same mistakes that you made."

"That is really good." Sarah smiled, "it makes a lot of sense and you are a hard thirty-one."

"Actually I saw it on a movie but anyway, are we agreed?" Sarah and Cameron shook their heads 'yes' and Derek grunted in a way that John assumed was concurrence.

"Is there anything else about my life that I need to know about? And you're one to talk, weren't you born in 1964 or something? In a particularly promiscuous family, you would be old enough to be my grandmother." Derek asked, still not at all happy with the plan.

"Not really, just that you really love your daughter and me."

"You're grandmother? I'm 34."

"Odd, since I can't even stand to have It in the same room with me."

"Oh and you have to stop calling your daughter 'It'."

Two days later it was finally Friday and John primped himself in front of the mirror as Sarah watched him. Just as he thought himself ready, she came in and pushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Mom, please try not to do that tonight. Just for one night let me be a normal teenager."

"Sorry, I just don't think you should hide your pretty eyes." She stuffed her hands back in her pocket to prevent herself from messing with his hair anymore. Every fifteen minutes or so she had to bite her tongue over not calling this whole thing off. She was worried about security. She was worried about Cameron causing a scene. She was worried about Derek causing a scene. And to be honest she was worried about causing a scene herself. She almost stopped it because it looked like rain earlier in the day. She almost stopped it because Derek hadn't slept last night and was having a bad day. She almost stopped it because she didn't want to admit that her little boy was growing up and would soon have to become the man everyone needed.

"Mom," John snapped her out of her reverie. "Did you work with Derek on his story. I don't want him blowing this." Of them all, Derek had the least experience in fitting in. He had never worked under an alias or assumed identity before. She had been schooling him all week on it and hoped he was ready. But he was grumpy and disconnected today. They both had their good days and bad days, when dealing with all this crap and today he was having a bad day. She had offered to let him stay but he said no. He didn't want to ruin John's date. She felt for him though. He seemed almost as jumpy and unhappy as he had been at first. She had been thrilled, when he had finally started to come out of his shell and they actually talked to each other like adults rather than just snapping and snarling like two dogs about to fight. Now they planned together, joked together, leaned on each other, and generally acted like partners. She had started to truly dread his bad days because the house was so quiet with nothing but the sound of his almost noiseless pacing and compulsively loading and reloading weapons.

"I've been quizzing him all week. I doubt anyone is going to talk to him anyway. I'll do most of the talking."

"You usually do." He mumbled.

"What?"

"Maybe you should make sure Cameron is doing ok and remind her to call Derek 'Dad' but not to be too lovey with him. It would ruin the entire thing if he hauls off and punches her."

"Ok," she turned to leave, "you should change into a blue shirt, black makes you look too pale."

She knocked on Cameron's door, wondering why exactly she was worrying about a machine's privacy. And why did a machine have a bedroom and Derek had to sleep on the couch? She walked in to find the Terminator looking at herself in the mirror. She was wearing hot pants, high heels, and a cut off shirt. Sarah took a deep breath. "Nice outfit."

"Morris said to wear something sexy. I studied what was sexy. This most closely mimicked what appeared to be considered sexy." Sarah rubbed her right shoulder and tried to think of a polite way to correct her. "Should I put out for Morris?"

"No." Sarah shook her head, "absolutely not." It wasn't like Cameron could get pregnant or contract a disease. She wasn't sure why she was protesting but it seemed like the right thing to do.

"What does it mean?"

"It means to 'have sex'." She clarified. "You should not have sex with this Morris guy."

"I am fully capable. I was designed to pass for human in all aspects." She tilted her head and looked at Sarah.

"I'm sure you are, but you don't want to get a reputation as loose because then other boys will want to date you and that is just too much trouble, too high profile." She paused, "and don't tell John that." She turned to leave then stopped, "you should probably change your clothes."

"Am I not sexy?" she asked, just as Derek walked by.

He stopped and looked at her for all of 2 seconds, "you look like a whore." He said and continued on his way.

"See, your father doesn't like the way you're dressed. You should put on something a bit more reserved." Sarah went to Cameron's closet and selected something for her. "Wear this." She left the cyborg to finish dressing. She hated to admit that it was sort of fun to pick out clothes for a date, if she ignored the fact that her daughter was a killer robot.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all assembled in the garage, with John in a blue shirt and Cameron more covered up. It was agreed that she would drive as Derek was the better shot if trouble arose. Sarah was disappointed that John didn't notice the dark circles under his uncle's eyes or the anxious, jittery way he held himself. But she supposed he was too excited to care.

The first stop was to pick up John's friend and Cameron's date, Morris. She and John had decided that Derek would play a very over protective father to prevent Morris from trying anything with Cameron. The two from the future walked to the door like they were planning on blowing it up. Sarah started to nervously chew on her thumb nail. John did exactly the same thing beside her. She decided not to take a chance and rushed to the door ahead of the two, ringing the bell before either of them could. She ignored Derek's glare as he put himself between her and the opening door in exactly the same manner that Cameron did with John. It might have been sweet if she knew it wasn't just his military training kicking in. It had nothing to do with her personally and every thing to do with "protect the Connors."

A very plump woman opened the door and came face to sternum with Derek. "You must be Morris's friends." The woman recovered quickly. She had a slight Hispanic accent.

Sarah shoulder checked Derek out of the way and introduced herself. "Yes, I'm Sarah Baum, this is my husband Derek," she waved her hand in his direction and he peeled his lip back in an odd approximation of a smile. She wondered at how natural it felt to refer to him that way.

"This must be John and Cameron," she smiled at the two children in the back. "Come in, Morris has told me so much about you."

They walked in and both her and Derek swept the room with their eyes taking in every detail from the velvet painting of the Virgin Mary to the little Chihuahua barking its fool head off at Cameron. Sarah made small talk with the woman for a minute or two until Morris showed up. He was way over dressed for the date and reeked of aftershave, not to mention short. But more interesting, was the way Derek looked at him, like he was about to start laughing.

She caught him turning to Cameron and asking, "you have got to be kidding me? If he makes a move on you, break his hand." She gave him and almost human like wink and pulled her lip back to expose her teeth at Morris, much in the same way Derek had done.

Morris was greeting his date and his friend and she pulled Derek aside, "What is that about?"

"I'll tell you later, time to go and play the over protective father. I take it back, I think I am going to enjoy this." This time there was a real smile and it was altogether disconcerting.

He stood behind John looking Morris up and down. Morris started to look a bit uncomfortable. "So who is the stiff?" He whispered to John.

"Sorry, man. Morris, this is my step dad, Derek. Derek, this is Morris, Cameron's date."

"That's Cameron's father?" Morris's voice had gone up at least on octave. John just nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Morris." He held out his hand and Morris tentatively took it, admiring the tattoos.

"Those are awesome tats, Derek." He smiled up but stopped immediately at the completely cold look in Derek's eyes. "I mean Mr. Philips, or Baum." He stuttered.

"How about, 'sir.'"

"Why don't we get going," John headed towards the door, anxious to get to Cheri's house.

Sarah made their good-byes and Derek pulled Morris out of the house by his hand, and then threw his arm around the young man. Sarah only caught the end the conversation, "You ever heard of a Mexican neck tie? Google it, when and if, you get home. But keep in mind if you touch that," he pointed towards Cameron, "you are going to be taking a lye bath and your Mamaista in there is going to be crying over an empty casket because there won't be enough of you left for your little yap-dog to identify." He let him go, "have a good time." Morris looked about to faint.

Sarah grabbed Derek by the hand and dragged him in front of the car as the kids got into the back. "What did you say to him?"

"Nothing much. You told me to be scary."

"I said be over bearing, not make the poor kid piss his pants." She scolded.

"The little punk deserves it. He's a coward that grows into a full blown pussy-bitch."

"You know him in the future?" She whispered.

"Yeah, he's in charge of the motor pool. I got shot in the leg and was out of commission for almost a month because that little sack of shit was too afraid to fire a gun."

"Well you can't really punish him for something he isn't going to do for 20 years."

"Seventeen and I'm not punishing him, I'm simply playing the part you and John forced on me."

They both got in the car and she drove to Cheri's house. It was a much grander home than Morris's and she wondered if she should have dressed better. It had been a damn long time since she had really worried over her appearance. She could see John fiddling with his shirt in the mirror as she stopped the car. They walked up the drive and as before, Derek put himself between her and door. A girl she assumed was Cheri opened the door and smiled nervously at them. It was John's turn to push past Derek.

"Hi, Cheri." He said shyly as an older man with very blue eyes and a steel grey buzz cut came up behind them.

"Um, John his is my father, Mr. Westin." She introduced them as their party entered the house.

"Hello, John," The man eyeballed John in much the same why Derek had done to Morris. Sarah thought John held up much better, though. "So are you going to introduce me to your family?"

"Of course, sir. This is my mother, Sarah," she shook the man's hand noting the Military ring on his finger but unable to tell the branch. "My sister, Cameron and her date, Morris." The two waved politely, "And my step father, Derek." Derek shook the man's hand.

"Nice to meet you all." He seemed to study Derek as the man assumed a perfect parade ground at ease stance. "So Derek, Cheri tells me that you spend a lot of time traveling for work?"

Sarah almost swallowed her tongue. She had been hoping to avoid anyone talking directly to him. "Yes, sir, Colonel Westin."

"What makes you think I'm a Colonel?" The man stared at him intently now.

"You have a framed shadow box of Air Force rank insignia on the wall and it stops at full Colonel. You are wearing an Air Force academy ring with a graduation date of 1981, meaning you would have attained field officer if not general officer, if you were career. And are you not the retired Colonel Jarred Westin that now runs the AI branch for Centaur Systems, the largest supplier of raw code to the SAC and NORAD?" Derek never broke eye contact the entire time he was talking and Sarah felt her entire body run cold.

"You're good, very good."

"Recon is one of my specialties, sir."

He turned away and Sarah paid close attention to where Derek's hands were. She recognized that name from the safe house papers. This man helped build Skynet. "I'm guessing you must be in the service too." He turned back around and studied Derek. "You're too hard looking for the Air Force and too observant for the Army." She was too worried to gloat over being right. "I'm guessing either SEAL or MSOB. But then again since you are closer to Coronado than Lejeune you are probably a SEAL." He waved his hand before Derek could speak again. "Please, I spent 25 years in the military, I can tell a black op from across the room. It's the eyes, that thousand yard stare, not to mention you walked across a marble floor in combat boots and didn't make sound." He held his hand out for another hand shake.

"MSOB keeps a battalion at Pendleton, but it doesn't matter because I spend most of my time stateside at Coronado."

Mr. Westin's smile became more friendly as Derek passed his test of knowing where the Marines kept their special forces. Sarah wasn't exactly sure how he knew that, she didn't even know that but she was glad he did. "It makes me feel better to know you'll be watching out for my little girl tonight."

"As if she were our own." Sarah broke in, putting herself between Derek and Mr. probably soon to be dead Westin.

He kissed Cheri on the head and bid her good night. Sarah finally took a deep breath. This was going to be a long night.

As they headed out she held him back, "Is that who I think it is?"

"That is a walking corpse." He intoned eyes and voice cold as stone. "But not tonight. Tonight is about John." He seemed to shake himself out of it and put his hand on the small of her back to lead propel her towards the car.

They arrived just as Morris was asking Cameron, "Is your dad really a Navy SEAL, real special ops stuff?"

"Real special ops stuff." She confirmed again with the fake smile.

"I hope everyone's hungry." Sarah chirped, feigning happiness as she pulled out towards the diner.

Once they arrived, they split into two groups. The kids sat towards the back, not visible through the window but against a wall that Cameron could easily break through if need be. And the adults, in a small booth towards the front, one facing the window and the other facing the door. Sarah ordered a club sandwich for him, which he ate without complaint. They didn't talk much, both too busy scanning for danger. And she was sure they were both thinking about John dating the daughter of one of SkyNet's creators.

She leaned back, cocking her head slightly as the place got a bit quieter. She wasn't eavesdropping, honestly. She was simply listening for danger.

"Your parents don't seem very happy." Cheri commented and John looked over.

"Derek's pretty tired, he just got in yesterday." Her son was awfully quick with the lies. She didn't know whether to be impressed or worried.

"He seems a little scary." Morris offered, making sure to keep his hands on the table, "and slightly mental."

"He is very scary, to his enemies." Cameron supplied, "he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and is often depressed and anxious. Does that count as mental?"

"But he isn't scary or mean to guys, I hope." Cheri said kindly and Sarah wondered if he knew enough about women to play the vulnerability card. Luckily he preferred to go the route of the truth and the 'your mom is going to kick your ass if you say anything else.'

"No, he's actually a pussycat to the family. He lets my mom push him around all the time. I think that's why he is here and not at home sleeping, like he would rather be doing. But then again, she is probably scarier than he is."

"So he is a punk in real life and I shouldn't be afraid of him." Morris puffed up slightly. Sarah could tell he was trying to play the tough guy, assuming that's what Cameron would like, and failing miserably.

"No, you should and will be very afraid of him. He doesn't like you." Cameron offered her insight and the boy immediately deflated. Sarah sometimes had a hard time believing that no one noticed there was anything amiss about Cameron. Derek had spotted it on the first look and it hadn't taken her much longer. But then again, most people didn't even know things like Terminators existed, much less that they could come in such pretty packages.

The rest of the conversation was lost on her as Derek snapped his fingers in her face. "What?"

He leaned back and looked at her. "It's a good thing there wasn't a problem it took me 45 seconds to get your attention." She ground her teeth at not only her lapse but at him counting seconds off again. He did that on missions all the time. Everything had to counted down to the second. 'Getting from tunnel to door should take 21 seconds, opening door is a minimum of 50 seconds maximum of 96,' ect. The man zoned out and brushed his teeth for 20 minutes at a time but rubbed it in her face if she was even one second late at a rendezvous. And to add insult to injury, he was never wrong, even when she timed him against a stop watch.

She took a cleansing breath and tried to be polite, "sorry, I was listening to them. They think we don't seem happy." She took his hand in hers, where it sat on the table.

"Why are you touching me?"

"Married people touch each other. We need to seem believable." He rubbed his thumb over her fingers.

"Ok, just warn me next time."

"You must have been a barrel of laughs on dates if you are this stand offish to women."

"You are not 'women' you are Sarah Connor, the mother of the savior of humanity and the woman my brother was in love with his entire adult life. Besides, I don't really know how you are supposed to act on dates."

"You mean you have never gone on a date?" She couldn't even hide her giggle.

"No, not really. Not in a 'let's go out for dinner and movie' date. Where I'm from a date is usually just sex pressed against a wall and maybe sharing your rations. Everything else is sort of done communally."

"That's really sad." She looked at him wondering if he was bright enough to play the vulnerable card unlike John. Then decided he was even more hopeless than his nephew. John had time to learn.

"That is hardly the most depressing thing about where I came from."

"No I mean that you are 31 and have never been on a real date." She rubbed her hands together and smiled at him. "So this is your first date too."

"No it isn't because I am not dating Sarah Connor."

"I'm not Sarah Connor, I'm Sarah Baum." She corrected.

"Then I'm Derek Phillips and we are already married."

"Stop arguing with me Lieutenant. This is going to be a date, and that's an order." She had a hard time not smiling.

"You could have at least dressed up for me then. Maybe put on a dress, show off your legs?" He teased her.

"Mom, we're ready to go." John interrupted them.

"Of course dear." She smiled and stood up, holding her hand out to Derek. "Come on, LT." He took it and she immediately tucked herself under his arm and wound her hand behind his waist. John looked askance at her until she winked at him. Derek gave her an odd look but didn't shake away from her. Maybe she would enjoy this too.

Please read and review - 1 chapter left


	3. Reality Check

AN: I own nothing and was challenged to write a ship story for Derek and Sarah. Enjoy.

Also, Sorry about the typos, but I don't have a beta.

**First Dates**

John missed his second swing in a row and Morris cheered his good luck. They had been couples playing against each other at miniature golf and unsurprisingly, Cameron was beating them all. But John's mind wasn't on the game and it wasn't on his date either. He kept looking over at his mom and Derek, where they sat on a picnic bench. Derek sat on the table and Sarah sat on the seat, between his legs. She was leaning back against him, with one arm over his thigh. Every now and again Derek would lean down to tell her something and she would smile brightly at him. She also seemed to spend a lot of time playing with her hair, which was not normal. His mother never cared what her hair looked like. They both seemed to be playing their parts extremely well, too well.

"It's your turn again, John." Cameron informed him. At first he had found the idea of a Terminator playing putt-putt comical, now he was too distracted to be amused.

"Sure." He took a swing and did better than his last. "Cameron," he pulled her aside as Cheri took her turn. "What is going on with them?"

"They are attempting to act like a married couple. Married couples often maintain physical contact with each other, even when it is unnecessary."

"I know that, but why?" He looked back again, "It's creepy. They're acting like they really are attracted to each other."

"She is of breeding age and he is able to produce healthy children. Their genetic material is compatible. There is no logical reason they should not mate. She should put out for him."

"Remind me never to talk to you about anything like this again."

"Acknowledged"

"It's your turn, Cameron. My shot is going to be hard to beat." Morris again tried to impress her.

"Man your sister is so hot. Do you really think her dad would be angry if I kissed her?"

"I think he would rip your face off and feed it to you, but I could be wrong. Go ahead, take a chance." He smacked Morris on the back, with a smile.

"Your parents are really cute." Cheri stood next to him and said.

"Thank you." He barely managed to tear his eyes away from where Morris was trying to show Cameron the right way to shoot. Somehow this was not how he pictured his first date. He pictured something more romantic, with less people and far less hidden weaponry. Derek and Sarah had actually broken in last night and hidden a high powered rifle in the windmill.

"My mom died a few years ago so it's just me and my dad. I sometimes wish he would find someone else but that might also just be awkward."

"My real father died before I was even born. Mom bounced around from guy to guy for awhile before she met Derek. He's so close to it, he might as well be my father." John realized that none of that was actually a lie. He had grown to love Derek almost like a father and not entirely because he was Kyle's brother.

"That's sweet. So they must have been together quite awhile?" John had a hard time keeping his mind on anything other than the fact she was leaning closer to him. He could smell her shampoo. It smelled like coconuts. People always said that boys ended up falling for women like their mothers. John was sure he was the exception that proved the rule. Frankly, he had a hard time understanding why anyone was ever attracted to his mother unless they had some sort of fetish for pain. For all of Derek's joking about 42 year old virgins, John was slightly surprised he hadn't ended up gay because his mother rendered him too afraid of women to ever perform with one. Cheri couldn't have been more different from his mom. Cheri was curvy, sweet, soft, and supple and didn't have hands as callused as a longshoreman or biceps bigger than his. She was blonde and smiley not dark and dower. She was always dressed in pretty clothes with her hair done rather than wearing around the same bloody tank top because it was more practical than changing.

"About eight years." John remembered the number they picked, barely. "He's been really good for her. She used to always worry about how I was being raised and if the guy she was with could teach me anything. She hooked up with a lot of losers that didn't always treat her very well. Derek has helped her loosen up a lot. She smiles again now." Oddly, he realized that was true too. Having Derek around had mellowed her out quite a bit in good way. She was still strong as hell, paranoid, and extremely intense about almost everything but sometimes now she would relax and just be his mom. Sometimes, when Derek was out building bombs, doing surveillance, or any of the other various and sundry things she had him do; she would come find him with popcorn and they would sit and watch a movie together or they would talk about anything other than the war till he got back. Once, when he had been gone all night, they had stayed up until dawn playing gin. He had really appreciated the distraction from is worry.

"She's good for him too," Cameron surprised him. "He is not nearly as depressed and withdrawn as he was before he met her. With the two of you he doesn't feel as alone, disconnected, and devoid of family." John was a bit surprised that she could figure any of this out but it seemed true.

John went to take his shot and Cameron stood beside them. "You and your father have the same eyes." Cheri complimented Cameron. John knew that Cheri was uncomfortable around his developmentally challenged stepsister, but she was doing her best to be nice. He liked that. "They aren't the same colour or anything but you both have the same look in your eyes."

"You mean the look of a cold blooded murderer," John mumbled under his breath.

"I favour my mother in looks." Cameron spoke over him.

"You both have the same smile too." Morris added sugary sweet. John had to bite his lip not to laugh, thinking about what Derek would say if he heard that. He suspected the Terminator hating resistance fighter would really rip Morris's face off. He regained his composure as they made it to the final hole.

The next activity was the batting cages. Sarah decided that if this was a date, then calories didn't matter and got herself a hot fudge sundae. She sat in the stands watching Cameron hit ball after ball and John not hit many. As they came nearer to the baseball side, Derek had become more and more quiet. He kept looking up at the over head lights, and trying to duck away from the being in the direct shine of any of them. She looked over at him now and realized he had to consciously restrain himself from reaching for his gun every time a light shifted or there was a crack off a bat. She did have to admit that the ball shooter sounded a bit like a very quiet cannon but that shouldn't really be bothering him that much.

At first she had tried talking to him, but the spaces between his answers had grown longer and longer until he wasn't speaking at all. Tired of her one sided conversation, she tried a new tactic. She took a large spoonful of ice cream, fudge, and whipped cream; bent it backwards slightly, lining up her shot; and let it go. Her aim was true and the mess spattered all over his right cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked her indignantly as he tried to wipe the mess off, but just ended up smearing it everywhere.

"Because you were a million miles away," she scolded him, wishing she could tell him exactly how many seconds he had been off in his own little world. She softened her voice then, as she started to clean his face off. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He snapped and shook away from her, then seemed to slump slightly. He looked down at where his hands were dangling between his legs. "It's the lights. HKs use really bright lights to find us. The first thing you learn on patrol is to hide from them, to get away from those fucking overhead flood lights. At least you learn it or you don't come back, a lot of people don't come back."

"I didn't know. If you want, we can leave." She didn't want to cut John's date short but she also didn't want to torture Derek either.

"No. I'll be fine." He stopped then looked at her, biting his lip "Just talk to me." He was bouncing his leg quickly and she could clearly tell he was anxious.

"About what?"

"Anything, just anything that reminds me that I'm sitting at a batting cage in 2008 and not caught out in the open by HK's and about to be blown to pieces." He was starting to rock back and forth slightly. "Even if it is just to tell me what a horrible date I am."

She took his hand and held it again, this time putting it in her own lap and hoping a physical anchor would make him feel better. It seemed too cold. "You are not even close to the worst date I've ever had. When I was 14, I went with Thomas Munson to a carnival. My mother let me wear my pretty, pink church dress and even a bit of mascara. I felt terribly grown up. Anyway, he ate an entire helping of rainbow coloured cotton candy and after we got off the tea cup ride, threw up all over me. I was mortified and enraged."

"And you let him live?"

"I was much more tolerant back then. Now I would definitely beat the crap out of him. And I also seem to recall that upon our second meeting, you proceeded to bleed all over me and I didn't kill you. In fact, I went out of my way to keep you alive." She smiled and knocked against his shoulder playfully.

"If you had just listened to me in the first place and stayed away, then you wouldn't have gotten blood all over you."

"If you had ducked instead of standing there like a giant orange target, he wouldn't have shot you."

"Then he might have identified you or John. Actually, if you hadn't tackled me, I would have been long gone before the police even showed up and the T-888 never would have found me." This was an on going argument they had been having almost since he could speak coherently. But at least he didn't seem as frightened.

"Not my fault that you couldn't hold your own against me." She stuck her nose in the air.

"I was afraid I would hurt you, if I fought back. You should have just let me run and failing that, let me take care of myself."

"True, but then you would be worm food like your men and not my date." She supposed that was a little harsh, but she just couldn't pass up the chance to point out she had saved his life. She rubbed the back of his still slightly cold hand to take the sting out of her words though. She was trying to cheer him up, not depress him further. "But, we were talking about dates, what about you? Even if you don't have what we would traditionally call dates, you must have spent time with some women. What was the worst one for you?"

"There was this one lady, Georgi, she had these gorgeous blue eyes and this great ass. She was a weapons tech and SOC was always testing the new weapons. We ended up becoming friends and we used to spend time together if we were both at the base at the same time."

"That sounds sort of like a girlfriend to me. How long exactly did you two spend time together?" She feigned jealousy. Though for some reason the idea of another woman being important to either of the Reeses was a bit irksome to her.

"Eighteen months or so. Anyway, it was a Saturday and I had a busted up shoulder and was sitting around the lab keeping her company, while she worked. She had one of her assistants get us some food and we were eating, when a terminator got in. It was a T-760. They aren't that tough but they are made to look like someone specific. No one ever figured out how it got through. I dropped it with three shots, but not before one of it's clipped her in the neck. She bled to death before we could even get her to medical."

That certainly trumped Sarah's story. But the point of this was to take his mind off the future, so maybe some more distractions were in order. She ran her hand through his hair, it had gotten much softer than it had been when he was shot. She didn't know if it was from better food or better shampoo but either way it was much shinier and healthier. She pulled him over and whispered, "I have a confession to make." She leaned close to his ear. "I have never hit a baseball in my entire life."

"That's your big secret; you've never hit a baseball?"

"You've never been on a real date and I've never hit a baseball. That sounds about even." She defended herself.

"I suppose that explains why John sucks so bad." She watched her son miss the fourth pitch in a row.

"He really does, doesn't he?" Derek nodded. "So," she stood up, pulling him with her, "you are going to teach me how to hit a baseball."

"I am?" He followed her anyway.

"Yes." She headed to an empty batting cage and picked up a bat. She stood on one side of the plate. Derek leaned against the pole behind her.

"I didn't know you were left handed."

"I'm not."

"You're standing on the wrong side of the plate."

"Oh." She moved and started swinging wildly at the balls as they flew towards her. She missed every one. She pounded the ground in frustration. "You are supposed to be helping me."

"I think you might be beyond help." She glared at him and he stood straighter. "You're swinging too early, wait till it gets closer." She tried that but waited too long.

"This is impossible!" she fumed as he sniggered at her. "I'm the mother of the freaking future. I can take apart an AK 47 blind folded but I can't hit a stupid ball."

"Here," Derek moved directly behind her and wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands on top of hers on the bat. He was warm and solid behind her. He smelled like gun oil and hot fudge and she hated to admit she liked the way he felt, wound around her like that, with her back against his chest. She shook her head, remembering that they were only pretending. He was only pretending. The next ball fired and he guided her to a perfect hit. "See, not that hard." She elbowed him in the rib for his gloating and he poked her in the side. She jumped in the air with a very startled yelp. "Did I hurt you?" he asked her in genuine concern.

"No, no, I'm fine." She shook the smile off her face just as one crossed his.

"Oh my god, you're ticklish."

"No I'm not." She tried to inch away from him but not before his fingers started to dance up and down along her sides. She howled in laughter, finally twisting out of his grasp. She ran around the other side of the fence and stopped, panting. "That is no way to treat your wife."

"And throwing food at your husband is acceptable?" When she first met him, she assumed he would be just like Kyle. She had been dead wrong. There were things alike about them, mannerisms they both shared. The way they moved or pronounced words but in personality they were almost polar opposites. Kyle had been kind and sweet, almost innocent but had almost no sense of humour and little sense of joy. Everything had amazed him and he seemed reticent to do anything even remotely disrespectful towards her. He treated her with the reverence one showed royalty. Derek on the other hand was snide, cynical, constantly questioning her, and had no problems cracking jokes about her, John, or himself. Kyle had been a girl's protector, a futuristic knight in shining armour come to slay the metal dragon. Derek was more like a woman's partner. He treated her like an equal and usually even deferred to her judgement but had no problem telling her, when he thought she was wrong. He was more than willing to slay dragons for her but he expected her to at least provide cover fire for him.

She feigned to the left but went right. He was on to her ploy though and caught her as she came back around. They were face to face with his arms around her this time and not knowing what else to do, she blurted out, "why didn't you ever get married?" He let go of her. "I never did because of John and your brother. I always wanted to though, deep down." She admitted. "I always wanted a husband and two kids, a boy and girl. Could you picture it, me with two kids and a white picket fence?"

He looked at her then picked up the bat she dropped. "My parents were odd balls. My mom was smart as hell. She was a doctor. She had a temper, though, and had no problem punishing you for something someone else did wrong. But for some reason in college, she fell in love with this complete hick in the A&M Corps of Cadets, not real bright, and from BFE, TX. He was three years younger than her, dumb as a box of rocks, and the calmest person you ever met. They were so different but they really loved each other. Even when dad was still in the Navy and was away from home for months at a time, she never left him. She could have had much better than a soldier but she loved him so much she stayed. She was always really uptight about details and used to freak out and yell and scream and he never got mad. She wanted things perfect and he would just look her in the eyes and tell her that 'perfect was boring and he married her because he didn't like boring.' They were partners in everything they did and they had this way of complimenting the other ones short falls." He ran his hand over his head. "I guess I just didn't want to agree to spend the rest of my life with someone whether it was 20 minutes or 60 years unless we could be those things for each other."

He handed her the bat. "I understand," was all she could come up with. It never occurred to her that Derek Reese could be a Romantic.

"Besides, there was always a better than average chance I wouldn't come back from a mission so why marry some woman just to make her a widow two days later? Seemed pointless to me." He collected 10 of the balls and walked in front of Sarah. "Now, just like I showed you," and he tossed them at her much slower than the machine.

At ten misses he couldn't hide his smile. At 15 he started laughing. At 20, he said, "I wonder if Skynet knew that to defeat you and John all they had to do was throw a baseball at you?"

"Very funny." She swung and missed again.

"Do you want me to get you a tee? Maybe you can hit a stationary ball." He taunted.

"I bet I can still hit you upside your head, if you don't quit teasing me."

"Not if my head is moving more than 4 feet per minute."

"Just throw the damn ball, Lieutenant."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"And stop calling me sir." He smiled at her and threw the next ball.

Thirty-four misses later she finally hit one. "I did it!" She exclaimed and jumped up and down excitedly. She ran towards him and jumped up, wrapping her knees around his hips. He caught her easily. Unthinkingly, she kissed him in her happiness. He stiffened and put her down. Her hands were still linked behind his neck and his arms were still around her waist, though. She didn't know why, but she tilted her head up and kissed him again. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but not the soft return kiss. Her mind quickly went through all the ways he was different from Kyle, and she hated herself for comparing them in everything, even this. Derek was taller but broader too. His kiss was more tentative oddly, as if he was unsure of either of their attraction. He was more skilled though, not as frantic, much more restrained.

She ran her hands through his hair and he pulled away, locking his eyes on hers. "Don't do that again until you mean it." He walked away. His words had sent sparks shooting up and down her spine, even as his look sent warmth flooding other places. She didn't know if she was more turned on or scared.

But part of her almost shot back, "what makes you think I don't mean it?" Because, in a way she did. He was hot and convenient. She had gone without a man's touch for too long and damn it, she wanted some good sex. But part of her immediately realized this was different, he was different. He wasn't a random guy she wanted to score with or just a somebody that could teach John how to be a leader. He was John's uncle and meant a great deal to her son, more even than Charley. He was a link to Kyle. He was her counter balance, when she wasn't strong enough or hard enough to do something. He was their reality check, when they lost focus. But more than that, he was her friend. He was someone that sat up with her when she couldn't sleep, usually because he couldn't either. When she was having a bad day he took her outside and sparred with her, letting her beat the shit out of him until she felt better or was too tired to move. He made her laugh and didn't make her feel like she needed to be "Sarah Connor" all the time.

She realized that over the past few weeks and months, he had become the compliment to her short falls and her to his. She was compassionate, where he was cold hearted. She was stealthy, where he was too forceful. He was paranoid, when she was too trusting. She was sane and rational, where he was hot headed and mentally unstable. She was restrained, where he was all or nothing. They were so different but so alike. They were both loyal, fierce, and loving. He would die for her or John and she realized that if it came down to it, she would sacrifice Cameron for him. Tactically, it would be stupid but in her heart she would choose the support and love he could provide over her security.

But she and Derek together right now was like playing with fire. If it didn't work out, the whole world would burn. He wasn't willing to take that chance and she supposed she should follow his lead. The mission was more important, even if it had been nice, for one night, to pretend to just be a normal woman, on a date, with her normal guy. She touched her lips for a moment and felt suddenly sad.

"So am I still not your worst date? I can try harder." He asked from where he was leaning.

"Still not close, at least I got a kiss this time." She sighed, "I'm sorry, that was stupid of me. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I just got caught up in the game we were playing. Can we just forget about it?"

He walked over to her, invading her personal space and taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger. He forced her to look up and meet his eyes. "Probably just an itch you want to scratch. And believe me, if you weren't St. Sarah Connor, I would scratch it all night, probably till you were bow legged tomorrow." She couldn't help but smile at him. "But I'm not your rent boy and you don't need to convince me to stay and help John."

"I never thought of you like that," she hooked her hand over his wrist and told him, but didn't pull his hand away. She ran her thumb just over his pulse point.

"But were you thinking about my brother?" He smiled at her softly, almost sadly. "You're my brother's girl and even if I were willing to cross that line, I would never know if you were thinking of him or me. And you would never know if I were doing it because I cared about you or some subconscious desire to punish John for sending Kyle to his death." Kyle was a ghost that always hung between them, she realized. Sometimes he was a guardian angel and sometimes a poltergeist but always there. "You and I just have way too much baggage between us to risk getting distracted. Not now, not when there is still so much to do." She was surprised that he was thinking nearly the same thing she had been. He let her go and held his hand out for her. It was getting late and they had to take the kids home. "It did feel nice though, didn't it? To be someone's someone, even if it was just pretend."

"It did." They walked back to the car, John and his friends trialing them. She wrapped her arm behind his waist and he put his arm over her shoulder. If they only had one date, she would enjoy it as long as she could.

Fin

Please read and review. This is the last chapter but if enough people enjoyed it, they might have a second date. Afterall, I think Morris and Cameron would need a chaperone for the prom.


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